Living Things
by TheLateNightStoryteller
Summary: Set shortly after the events of 1x17 Turn, Turn Turn. A one shot that could be the prequel to Laughter (is the best medicine). Jemma tries to console Fitz as he struggles with recent events but the two end up comforting each other after Jemma ponders the origins of trampled white flower. Agents of shield belongs to its awesome creators and Marvel and ABC.


Jemma lay in her sleeping bag on the small section of floor that had not been rained on by shattered droplets of glass. Fitz had placed his sleeping bag on one side of her's and Skye had placed hers on the other so that the edges touched and they looked like one lumpy black mat. It would be far less comfortable sleeping on the groud but, through some unspoken agreement, everyone had taken a sleeping bag and abandoned their bunks for the hard floor. The other members of her team, May, Coulson, Ward and Triplet talked quietly in the next room. Jemma tried to listen to what they were saying but their whispers were muffled by the door.  
Behind her she heard Skye's relaxed, even breathing and knew she was asleep. On another night, the sound may have kept her awake but now the steady flow of air in and out of her friend's body was a soothig lullaby. It was a lullaby that, by now, might have sent Jemma into a somewhat peaceful slumber had it not been for the silence on her other side.

"You should be sleeping," she whispered to Fitz who instead lay on his stomach watching the door that hid the others from view. Jemma noticed on the floor in front of him, along with a wide selection of unidentifiable debris, a trampled white flower that may have been a tulip. She wondered briefly how it could have ended up here.  
"So should you," he replied quietly rolling over onto his side to face her.  
They stared at each other through the darkness and she saw, without actually being able to see, that something was very wrong.  
"Do you think we go somewhere?" he asked her, hesitantly as if he were afraid of her reply, "After people die, do they still exist?"  
Jemma paused, unsure how to answer. She suspected she knew why he was asking these questions.  
"I hope so," was the only thing she could think to say.  
She heard him exhale shakily.  
"You told me once," he reminded her, his voice barely a whisper, "that every living thing is its own beautiful complex pattern and that when we die the pattern begins to unravel.."  
"It does," she agreed slowly. "that doesn't mean there isn't something left after though."  
"I know," he told her. "But-"  
His voice faltered and it was a while before he continued. She waited patiently, leting him sort through his thoughts.  
"I killed him," he finally said, his voice thick with pain, "I don't even know his name or why he was with hydra. Maybe he was just scared, like I was. Maybe he didn't even want to be there."  
"Fitz," she whispered, taking his hand and feeling it quiver in hers. "You saved May's life."  
"I know," he sighed. "I couldn't let him kill her. I wouldn't, if I had to do it again. But I keep thinking I could have aimed lower. Or hit him in the shoulder. Or thought to pack a bloody icer."  
"You did the only thing you could," she soothed.

Even through the darkness she could see her friend's body shaking as he sobbed quietly by her side. It broke a damn inside of her that had been holding back her own pain and horror at the events that had led them here and Jemma found herself crying with him.  
"It's alright," she lied, kissing his forehead before pressing her own against it. "we're alright."  
Their tears mixed as they dripped onto the smooth black fabric. She wondered, again, who the flower had belonged to and whether or not whoever it was was still alive. Perhaps it had been a gift for someone, like the flowers Fitz had brought for Skye after she had been shot. The owner of the flower probably had someone who loved them, much like how she loved Fitz and Skye. Would they ever see them again? Suddenly all the deaths she had witnessed that day, as well as the many more she hadn't, had faces. Some faces she recognized, some she did not; some were shield and some were hydra but it didn't matter which they were. She felt the chill of their going like a thousand snuffed out candles.  
Fitz must have felt her shuddering because his grip on her hand tightened gently and he slowly rubbed the back of her palm with his thumb.  
"We're alright," he repeated her lie. "We'll fix this. I promise."  
"Together," she vowed, and felt him kiss the top of her head.

It was a while before their tears stopped. Skye stirred but did not wake. Maybe she sensed from sleep that something was wrong because she rolled over so that her shoulder pressed against Jemma's back.  
Jemma felt safe, nestled between them. On one side she felt the reliable rise and fall of Skye's breathing and on the other Fitz had began to fall asleep, his hand still wrapped around her own.  
The others joined them and she heard someone settle in on the empty patch of floor beside Skye and someone else do the same beside Fitz. One of her teammates took the floor by their feet and the last one, who by the yawn she guessed was Triplet, found his place in front of their heads so that they were surrounded on all sides by their friends.  
Fitz had fallen asleep but his hold on her hand had not losened much. Jemma kissed his forehead one last time before closing her eyes.  
She couldn't think of a better place to sleep.

**Background**

The Fringe reference in this story is the white tulip. In Fringe, the flower is a symbol of forgiveness that first appears in 2x18 _White Tulip_. It also has other meanings throughout the series and is tied to the quote by Elizabeth Bishop:  
"Sometimes the world we have isn't the world we want, but we have our hearts and our imaginations to make the best of it."

The Fringe Reference in _Laughter (is the best medicine) _is the names of the cameras. Amber 31422 is a substance (that looks a lot like amber) which is used in the alternate universe to stop wormholes from spreading. It is also the title of episode 3x05. The other camera is Amber 6955. The 6955 comes from the title of the episode right after, which is _6955 kHz_.

I wrote this one without spell check so there are probably going to be more mistakes than usual.


End file.
